A Review of Self-Management Interventions for People With Dementia and Mild Cognitive Impairment

Abstract

Self-management offers a way of helping people with dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to play an active role in managing their condition. Barlow, Wright, Sheasby, Turner, and Hainsworth have defined self-management as the "individual's ability to manage the symptoms, treatment, physical and psychosocial consequences and life style changes inherent in living with a chronic condition." Although commonly used in other chronic health conditions, there has been relatively little exploration of the role of self-management in dementia or MCI. This review aimed to identify group-based psychosocial interventions for people with dementia or MCI that incorporate significant elements of self-management. Fifteen interventions were included in the review: 12 for people with dementia and 3 for participants with MCI. In both the dementia and MCI interventions, the most commonly included self-management components were information, communication, and social support, and skills training. The review findings indicate that components of self-management have been incorporated into group-based interventions for people with dementia and MCI. Further studies are needed to address the methodological limitations of the included studies and to determine the effectiveness of self-management interventions with these populations.

Behaviors and Strategies Supporting Everyday Memory in Older Adults

“…Certainly, the outcome measures in post-training assessments do not include ecological measures of everyday memory strategies or success. We believe, in contrast, that interventions specifically targeting how to improve people’s use of memory strategies and aids, while focusing on how self-regulatory approaches [59] can improve daily habits and routines and mindful self-regulation, could have major benefits for improving everyday memory function [18, 60]. …”

Living Life and Doing Things Together: Collaborative Research With Couples Where One Partner Has a Diagnosis of Dementia

“…However, the main findings of our study are in line with previous research of self-management in dementia, several of our identified topics can be found in recent studies, for example; relationships, coping, communication, physical and psychological wellbeing, meaningful activities and planning for the future (Sprange, Mountain, Shortland, Craig, Blackburn & Bowie et al 2015;Mountain & Craig, 2012;Martin, Turner, Wallace, Stanley, Jesuthasan & Bradbury, 2015;Quinn, Toms, Jones, Brand, Edwards & Sanders et al 2016). The latter, "planning for the future", seems to be a recurring topic within self-management for people with dementia and often involves learning about dementia and planning for future impacts (Quinn et al 2016a). However, there are significant differences in how couples with dementia choses to cope with thoughts about the future.…”

“…These core skills can be found in several of our themes, for example in "adapting activity to capability", "meaningful activities and relationships" and "communication and interaction", and seem to be suitable goals for self-management in Another important aspect of self-management for people with dementia would be easy access. According to the review conducted by Quinn et al (2016a) and the review of Bielsten & Hellström (2017b), self-management interventions for people with dementia are dependent on the delivery of professionals and on particular locations, which leads to various limits such as limited access and wider dissemination. Given that the number of couples where one partner has a diagnosis of dementia will increase in the coming years, there is a need for support that are not solely dependent on resources in health care.…”

The acceptability of TV-based game platforms as an instrument to support the cognitive evaluation of senior adults at home

“…During the pilot we also obtained evidence in the sense that such a setting (i.e., TV device + serious games) may serve as a mechanism that would eventually support an ecological screening instrument for mild cognitive impairments, as participants perceived it as useful both during the pilot and several months after completing it, and declared that they (i.e., 76% of participants) would continue using it. Also, according to Quinn et al (2015), the apparition of memory-related impairments is among the most relevant concerns for senior adults and their caretakers. In this regard, this study also evidences that senior adults can become an active part of their own care by means of solutions like the one discussed in this paper, as they are perceived as usable and acceptable for this population group.…”